Door-retaining device



June 26, 1928.

L. KUCAK DOOR RETAINING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1927 f lowingudeseription relating to thef .accom-' 'panying'drawing, wherein I have shown my Patented June 26, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

LEOKUGAK, or CLEVELAND, o no, ASSIGNOROF ONE-HALF TO VIRGINIAFLEAI KUGAK, or CLEVELAND/.OHIO.

DOOR-RETAINING ma'vrcn- Application fil ed August a, 1927. sen-a1? No. 210,243. g

This invention relates to a device for retaining garage doors, or doors of similar .buildings, in open position; The general object of. the invention isto provide a door retainer which may be easily constructedfrom a minimum number of simple parts," and which will hold thedoor firmlyin thedesired position.

' A further object is to provide a door retaining devioewhich shall be so arranged that the likelihood of sticking .or jamming of the parts, by reasonof the accumulation of foreign material, is reduced to a minimum.

Anotherobject is to provide, a. retaining.

device which maybe easily adapted to various {styles of garage construction, and" which shall be. easily adjustable for. different:

overhead clearance distances between the door and garage hood orthe like, as well as adjustable for different door thicknesses.

0A further object is to provide a door retainer which-may be made to engage'the door at the most effective angle, irrespective of "the angle of the door with reference to the building. Further objectsand"features of the invention will become apparent from the fol preferred forms. ,The essential characteristics aresummarized in the cla1ms.,.

g In the drawing, Fig. 1 is afra'gmentaryv side elevation ofonecommon t'peof garage, partlybroken away to show t e position of' the door'retaining device; Fig. 1 isa central vertical cross sectional view of thepreferred form of retaining device taken at right andicating the various partsby suitable characters,fAiis the side wall of a garage and B thefront wall thereof. G istheroof portion the latter portion'being shown as oining the v of the garage hoodand D the ceiling portion,

of the garage.

vin place. c -If desired, and toaccommodate'difi'erent- "thicknesses of doors I may provide addition forward edge ofthe roof and the front wall I The door is mounted'fiush with the frontwall and the upper edge'of the door usually clears the ceiling D by the distance of from three to six inches when swung outwardly on the hinges- The ar rangement of parts, shown in Fig. '1, is especially adapted to this type 0t" construction.

As shown in Fig.1, the device'comprises a 7 vertical. member 1 preferably formed of. iron pipe, thereby 1 combining. lightness and strength, a bracket 2 for supporting the pipe,

a latch 3 for engaging the door and a latch releasing member shown as a chain 4". A set' screw '7 is preferably employed to hold the.

pipe i-n'rigidposition with the latch just low enough to'be engaged and lifted by the upper edge of the doom-The bracket 2 has an attaching' flange .5adapted to receive fastening members, such as bolts or screws, screws beinglndicated at 6. The screws directly en gage the ceiling member of the hood. The

"latch 3 as shown is supported and guided by 'slots 9'and 10 and is'pivoted intermediately of its ends on a pin 12 passing through from one side of the pipe to the other. The pin'is preferably riveted over atitsends to hold it in place; The. end -of the latch at the left of the pivot (as shown in Fig. 1) is adapted to extend toward thedoor andisheavy enough to normally rest at the bottom of'the slot 9. V

This end of the .latch'is enlarged at ,13 and has a rounded or camming surface 14 adapt- I ed to engagetheedge ofthe door as the door swings toward the member 1, whereby the latch is lifted." AS the door E1 comes into. contact with the member 1, the enlargedendof the latch drops by gravityand a shoulder 15 adjacent the cam surface holds thedoor al' openings, such as 16, only one 'being shown, for embracing the pivot. pin 12.

ing-the distance between the shoulder 15 and the member 1.

The releasing member v4 maybe of any convenient length and, as shown, 'depends from a ring 28 in an opening 29 near the rear end of the latch. When it isdesired to close the door the operator simply reaches past the edge of the door, pulls downwardly on the chain and swings the door to closed position.

As shown in Fig. 12 the pipe is externally threaded for a considerable distance at 18 to engage complementary threads in the bracket and the set screw 7 engages the threads to lock the pipe in vertically ad-' justed position. The adjustment is only necessary during installation and is pro vided for on account of variation, in different buildings, of door and hood clearance. The ceilingmember may have a hole bored therein in registration with the pipe .and large enough to permit the pipe to pass through into the idle space above the ceiling member in case the door swings closer to the hood than as shown in full lines. Such adjustment simply raises the latch, for example, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, to cooperate with a correspondingly raised door, also shown in broken lines. The construction' may be simplified by omitting the threaded connection between the pipe and bracket and em 10 in a slidin fit between L: 23 I these members.

This is not illustrated. In F ig. 1 the showing in full lines illustrates the position of the parts with the door eX- tending from the building at right angles. The showing in broken lines in this figure brings out the desirability of so mounting walls A and B as before, but in-this case there 18 no hood arrangement. In order to,

support the vertical member 1 far enough away from the front wall to securely hold the door without putting excessive strain on the hinges, I provide an overhanging bracket 20 having a portion 21 adapted to be threaded to, or to slidably engage the member 1 as before, and which extends horizontally at 22 and vertically as at 23 to provide for attachment to a vertical wall. Suitable bolts or screws may pass through the Vertical. por tion 28 and the front wall to hold the bracket in place. The latch member 3'may be extended at right angles to the door when the. latter is in open position as before by turning the pipe and then locking it in place. If desired, this formof bracket may be light-. sued by providing openings in the webs leaving, of course, simply enough material to take the strains when the door is shaken as by wind, .and one or more of the webs may extend upwardly from the portion 21, as well as laterally, to take such strain.

In the case of buildings of the type shown in Fig. 2 it is'often desirable to support the latch at a considerable distance from the front wall in order to engage the door at a point remote from the hinge axis. This is particularly true when the door is limited to an open position nearly normal to the wall as in the case of double garages,where it is undesirable that the door be swung completely open but rather just enough to allow'the entrance and exit of the car. For such buildings I propose to use a pipe, such as shown at 80in Fig. 3, having a horizontal portion 81 supported at one end as by a bracket member 32 similar to that shown in Fig. 1 this bracket being secured to the front wall in any suitable manner. Near its outer. end the pipe 30 bends downwardly and extends vertically asat- 83, and the vertical portion is slotted to receive the latch 3 as before. Obviously, unless the member 30 is very rigid and is very rigidly attach-edto the building, the whole device could be easily damaged by slamming the door against the pipe. To brace the pipe I proposeto provide a strutmember 85 secured to the pipe close to the latch and extending upwardly and laterally from the pipe to a convenient attachment such as an eye-bolt 3T secured to the building wall. The end of. the strut, assuming that the strut is made from bar stock, may be curled over as at .38, to embrace the eye-bolt. The end of the member 35 may pass through the vertical portion of the pipe and be riveted overas, at 39 beyond the pipe. I

From theabove description it will be'seen that I have provided a sturdy retaining device suitable for use for garage doors or the like, wherein the parts are few in number,

very simple and easily made from inexpensive materials following common shop'practices. :Further, by my arrangement a slngle device may be used with garage constructions of varying designs by very simple adjustments. i r

I claim: I

1. A door retaining device comprising in combination, a downwardly extending'memberarranged to extend in the path, of the door at the upper edge, thereof, a latch bar extending transversely of and .pivotally sup ported by said member and having av cam end adapted to be engaged by thedoor, said bar having a shoulder for holding the door in position against said membenand means for releasing the latch bar. a

2. A door retaining device comprising. in combination, a supportadapted to besecured to a building, a member depending substantially vertically from the support, a recess near the lower end of the said memher, a latohibar pivotally supportedin the recess and having a cam end adapted to be engaged by the door, a shoulder on the bar for holding the door in position against said depending member, and means for releasing the latch.

3. 1n aretaining device for doors,a bracket adapted to be secured to -a building above the path of a door, said bracket having an pening,"a vertically extending memberadjustably engaging said opening, a latch bar pivotally supported by said vertically extending member and having a cam end'and a shoulder to engage and retain the door in place against said member, means carried by the bracket for fastening the vertical member in adjusted positions, and means depending from the end of the latch opposite the end to be engaged by the door for releasing the latch to permitvthe door to be closed. a

4. In a garage door retaining device, a vertically adjustable member adapted to extend downwardly with its lower end in the path'of a door, a recess near the lower end of said member, a latch bar passing through the recess and having a ecam and shoulder.

at one end for engaging the door, a pin pivotally supporting the latch, and means at-v tached to the end of the latch opposite said bracket and adjustably secured thereto,

longitudinally offset slots in opposite sides of the pipe near the bottom thereof, and a latch bar pivotally supported in said slots and normally resting at one end in one of the slots in position to be lifted by the door, and means for releasing the latch bar.

7 6; A door retaining device comprising in combination, a support adapted to be secured to a building, a member turnably mounted in and, vertically adjustable relative to the support, a latch bar pivotally supported by the said. member and having a, cam end adapted to be engaged by a door of the build mg, a shoulder on the bar for holding the 'door in position against said member, means for releasing the latch, and means carried by the support for fastening the member in fixed position with the latch extending normal to the'door..

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afliz z my V signature.

' LEO KUCAK. 7 

